to non-fiction index ... to science and insight index
When people are living in the post-snap TES societies, what will they care about? What will their attention be focused on?
Much will be the same as today, because instinctive human thinking changes slowly. But the "stuff" around us changes quickly and makes a difference. The neat part is that difference is often surprising.
One of the big differences is that in TES people will not be worrying about basic necessities such as food, shelter and health care. But this will not be counted as a blessing, this will be taken for granted. People will still get outraged and feel gross injustice has been committed. ...The question is: over what?
Let's start by reviewing the instinctive thinking that will still be a constant in the TES worlds.
The list of instinctive thinking is well defined today. Look at the categories in books stores for books and magazines. Look on web sites that offer entertainment and training for other other media categories. The list is surprisingly limited. It is limited because it is driven by instinctive thinking. Those that are based on instincts, such as health, spirituality, personal aspiration, are going to survive in the TES environment. What will surprise is how they interact with "sufficient stuff... always sufficient stuff".
As I've been thinking about this, a surprise example of future forecasting came to mind: the movie Zardoz (1974). In that movie the people living in the domes are experiencing a TES life, and the movie has some surprisingly advanced portrayal gems mixed in with a lot of usual sci-fi action/adventure dross.
o some fairly decent human-computer interfacing. I recall a human arguing with the computer about how to expend computing resources
o immortality through cloning and consciousness transferring, with memories and personalities maintained in cyber
o a big crisis about what people should be doing. There was a lot of hipster-style activity, and many people were falling into deep apathy
o conflict and exile: people who lost serious disputes were punished not by death, but by aging with its enfeeblement, because everyone in the dome was immortal
These all seem to be likely elements in post-snap living. The big difference is: I don't envision impenetrable domes isolating the blessed from primitive impoverished barbarians living outside the gates. The insiders may consider the outsiders ignorant and near savages. But, poor as they may seem to the rich, they will still be living urban, and with more material wealth than middle class people do today, although it will be of a different form. For instance, these poor people may have to survive on getting around in driverless cars that are little more than taxis, and their personal phones are <gasp> still attached to the outside!
So, what are people going to be thinking about in this Brave New World? My various TES worlds? What will be on their minds? What will they be taking conscious action on?
The various cultures around the world will all be diverse within themselves as well as varied from culture to culture. Those who desire to break away will have the prosperity to do it successfully. National boundaries will have less meaning and regional boundaries, not necessarily geographic ones, will have more meaning.
--The End--